This invention relates to methods for the separation and enrichment of isotopes and for the controlling of rates and products of reactions.
Isotopes of many elements are in demand in large quantities for a variety of uses ranging from fueling light water moderated reactors (.sup.235 U enriched) to biological tracing experiments (.sup.13 C, .sup.17 O). Deuterium is needed for heavy water moderated reactors which permit use of natural uranium.
The conventional methods of isotopic enrichment, utilizing differences in physical, chemical or spectroscopic properties that result from differences in diffusional properties, boiling points or chemical reaction rates, permit separation of isotopes of different masses. In general, the efficiency of separation achieved by these methods is very small. If the spectroscopic properties of two isotopes differ, it is sometimes possible to employ laser induced isotope separation. This method is not general and is usually not applicable to polyatomic molecules which tend to possess complex absorption bands.
The conventional methods for separation of isotopes are (a) limited to low efficiency if separation is based on physical or chemical differences in isotopic species and (b) limited in application to small molecules with distinct spectroscopic properties characteristic of different isotopes.